Foster Conceptual Change Research Articles

Conceptual Change and Education: The Neglected Potential of Developmental Teaching Approaches

Research on conceptual change (CC) has revealed that students face difficulties when learning that requires significant changes to their prior knowledge. Researchers have documented the challenges in education to promote CCs and concluded that conventional teaching does not facilitate these changes. However, while designing educational methods to address CC challenges is a central aim of CC research, it is an area of research that still requires refinement. I show that developmental teaching (DT) approaches, including El’konin-Davydov’s developmental education and Gal’perin’s method of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and concepts, are promising for addressing CC challenges but are absent from CC research literature. I first review the CC challenges revealed in CC research, the way in which three CC research trends – framework theory, ontological theory, and knowledge-in-pieces theory – interpret them, and their educational recommendations to foster CC. Next, I present CC challenges and educational recommendations to foster CC from a DT perspective. I delineate convergences and divergences between the three CC research trends and DT research concerning both educational design and theories of CC. I conclude by suggesting articulations between DT research and CC research in general and the three CC research trends in particular.

Opinion: Lessons from the 'misinformation age': Proposing a socially-embedded approach to foster conceptual change

Opinion: Lessons from the 'misinformation age': Proposing a socially-embedded approach to foster conceptual change

A content analysis of pre-college lesson plans on human evolution

One of the most fundamental understandings within biology is evolution, yet often ascribed as one of the most misunderstood scientific concepts by the American public. Despite not being explicitly mentioned in most American science standards, human evolution is nevertheless taught as an engaging context for understanding complex evolutionary processes among pre-college science students. Therefore, pre-college science teachers seek out human evolution content experts (e.g., Smithsonian Institution, NOVA, ENSI) to procure curricula (lesson plans) to teach these concepts in their classrooms. For students to accurately understand human evolution, research recommends lesson plans employ a diversity of direct and indirect evolutionary evidence, infused with social science perspectives related to the nature of science (NOS) and/or socioscientific issues (SSI) to foster necessary conceptual change. Given such empirical affordances of using multiple sources of evidence and integrated social science perspectives to foster conceptual change in teaching human evolution, it is unknown to what extent these attributes are present in lesson plans created by these entities and targeted to pre-college science teachers. To ascertain to what extent pre-college lesson plans on human evolution employ these research-based best practices, this paper analyzed 86 lesson plans created by 18 entities with content expertise in human evolution concepts that had developed online pre-college lesson plans. Among the sampled lesson plans, less than one third (29%) presented a combination of direct and indirect evidence. Further, a mere 17% incorporated elements of NOS, where SSI (like historical (n = 3) and racial (n = 1)) perspectives were fewer. In sum, findings suggest available resources are deficient in fostering the conceptual change necessary for pre-college students to fully understand human evolution concepts. This study evidences a continued need to ensure best practices are incorporated into human evolution lesson plans created for pre-college teachers.

Using persuasive refutation texts to prompt attitudinal and conceptual change.

We investigated knowledge and attitudes before and after reading refutation texts augmented by different kinds of persuasive information and how emotions mediated the process of knowledge and attitude change. Undergraduates (N = 424) enrolled in 4 universities from 3 countries read a refutation text on genetically modified foods (GMFs) and were then randomly assigned to receive additional information about advantages of GMFs, disadvantages of GMFs, or both. After studying, students reading about advantages of GMFs had significantly more positive attitudes than students who read about disadvantages. There was also a significant reduction in misconceptions; participants in the positive-oriented text condition showed the largest learning gains, particularly those who held more positive initial attitudes. Epistemic emotions of curiosity, frustration, hope, and enjoyment mediated attitude change while confusion mediated relations between prereading attitudes and postreading knowledge. In addition, the direct relationship between prior attitudes and surprise was moderated by type of text. When reading about both advantages and disadvantages of GMFs, participants reported significantly less surprise when compared with those who read about either advantages or disadvantages of GMFs. To foster conceptual change when learning about complex topics, refutation texts may be paired with persuasive information that is aligned with accurate conceptions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Inquiry-Based Learning and Conceptual Change in Balance Beam Understanding.

Inquiry-based learning has the potential to foster conceptual change, but whether it can induce an advancement in strategy use is not yet known. Such an advancement seems plausible, because conceptual change can be reflected in the use of new strategies. Whether inquiry-based learning leads to advancement in strategy use can be tested with strategy-based tests, such as the balance beam test. Distinct strategies have been proposed and identified for this test. Therefore, the present study compared response patterns on the balance beam test before and after an inquiry-based lesson. The experimental condition completed a digital inquiry-based lesson about the balance beam (n = 113), and the control condition completed a similar inquiry-based lesson but investigated a different topic (n = 44). The participants were aged 8–13 years old and were unfamiliar with the law of moments. The balance beam test (pretest and posttest) consisted of 25 items. Overall accuracy in solving balance beam problems improved after the inquiry-based lesson in the balance beam (BB) condition but not in the control condition. Classes, identified with latent transition analysis (LTA), appeared to be globally in line with previously identified strategies in the balance beam test. Condition was entered as a covariate in the LTA to identify which changes in strategy use could be attributed to the experimental intervention. First, changes from pretest to posttest were found, which supported that a change in strategy use occurred in some children. Second, there were more improvements in the BB condition, and these improvements indicated larger gains compared to the control condition. This means that in science education, it is important to map out prior knowledge and its effect on learning paths. Overall, results suggested that conceptual change could be measured as a change in strategy use and modeled with LTA to reveal that 26% of the children showed conceptual change after a single inquiry-based lesson.

Stimulating pre-service teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge on rational numbers

The transition from natural to rational numbers is difficult for most elementary school children. A major cause for these difficulties is assumed to be the “conceptual change” they need to undergo in order to see that several natural number properties do not apply to rational numbers. To appropriately handle pupils’ difficulties, teachers need well-developed content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the present study, a lesson series to promote pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) rational number CK and PCK was developed according to design principles to foster conceptual change. This lesson series was evaluated based on a comparison of the CK and PCK growth of PSTs in the intervention group (n = 138) with the knowledge growth of PSTs in an alternative teacher training course (control group; n = 135). Intervention group PSTs significantly outperformed control group PSTs on CK and PCK, indicating that the intervention was effective in stimulating PSTs’ knowledge on rational numbers. Methodological, theoretical as well as practical implications of the present study are discussed.

Using Knowledge Building to Foster Conceptual Change

In recent years, there have been many exchanges of perspectives and debates in the field of conceptual change. Most of the classical views on conceptual change have been criticized, and there have been recent discussions around bridging the cognitive and socio-cultural approaches in the research on conceptual change. On the other hand, researchers and educators in the knowledge building communities have been working towards advancing the frontier of knowledge work and knowledge creation in education in order to cope with the challenges of an emerging knowledge society. In this paper, we examine some of the main principles of knowledge building in relation to fostering conceptual change with reference to specific examples. Specifically, we highlight the foundational goal of knowledge building with respect to conceptual change.

Enacting a Reform-Based Science Curriculum: Design Changes to Extend Inquiry

The first author re-entered the middle grades classroom to teach a new National Science Foundation (NSF) physical science curriculum that was designed to foster conceptual change through a scientific approach. The curriculum design met the need and call for reform in science education through its focus on inquiry, evidence-based reasoning, peer collaboration, and deeper understanding of important concepts in a science discipline. Lessons followed a learning cycle of activities for knowledge construction. As a self-study, the first author as teacher sought to learn about his beliefs and abilities in practice while enacting and adjusting the curriculum design. The second author helped in this reflective practice through visiting the first author’s classroom for periodic observations, interviews, and discussions about the implementation of this curriculum. Four videotaped lessons and instructional artifacts demonstrate that the teacher enacted the curriculum with high fidelity to its prescribed inquiries and learning cycle format with only minor changes. Instructional design modifications were made in practice to assist lower achieving students meet its high academic challenge of analytical thinking. The merits of the prescribed curriculum for promoting deductive scientific thinking are detailed alongside instructional design decisions emanating from the curriculums’ academic rigor and limitations in connecting to adolescent interest and choice. This case details one example of a teacher who intended to faithfully implement a reform-based science curriculum, realizing along the way, that design changes were warranted to meet the educative and emotional needs of students in a particular context.

Problem-based learning as a facilitator of conceptual change

We investigated whether problem-based learning (PBL) can foster conceptual change. Students were randomly assigned to a PBL, lecture-based, or self-study group, all receiving instruction about the topic of Newtonian laws. Conceptual change was measured from pre- to immediate post-test (directly after instruction) and from immediate post-test to delayed post-test after one week. Results showed that the PBL-group outperformed both the lecture and the self-study group on the immediate post-test. This result supported the hypothesis that PBL can increase the likelihood of conceptual change. The PBL group also outperformed both other groups at the delayed post-test after one week; the decline in conceptual change from immediate to delayed post-test was similar for all three groups. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive engagement.

Detection of Misconceptions about Colour and an Experimentally Tested Proposal to Combat them

We study the misconceptions about colour that most people hold, determining the general phenomenological laws that govern them. Concept mapping was used to combat the misconceptions which were found in the application of a test specifically designed to determine these misconceptions, while avoiding the possible misleading inductions that could have arisen from the use of everyday language. In particular, care was taken to avoid the distorting effect that the use of the verb ‘to be’ applied to coloured objects could have on the responses. The misconceptions found were shown to have an internal consistency in the form of authentic mini-theories (implicit theories). We compared experimentally the results of two different teaching methods applied to combat these misconceptions. This study was conducted with 470 undergraduates of the University of Extremadura. We analysed the persistence over time of their learning made to overcome those misconceptions. The students were divided randomly into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). To combat their misconceptions, EG were taught following a method based on the use of concept maps, and CG were taught following traditional teaching methods. The results of a pre-test and a post-test were compared for the two groups, finding statistically significant differences. The results allowed the principal working hypothesis to be accepted—concept maps are learning tools which foster conceptual change and allow misconceptions to be eradicated via meaningful learning maintained over time, i.e. EG acquired a relative long-lasting gain in learning that was superior to that acquired by CG.

Model based reasoning and the learning of counter-intuitive science concepts

The capacity to create and manipulate models is a fundamental form of human reasoning and plays an important role in scientific discovery and in the learning of science. In this article I argue that model based reasoning is available even to very young children who are capable of constructing mental models to represent their everyday physical reality. These mental representations can act as mediators in the interpretation of counter-intuitive scientific information as well as in the understanding of cultural artifacts. Model based reasoning can be developed through appropriate instruction in ways that foster conceptual change processes and the learning of science.

Emergent learning in successive activities

The present study focuses on the observation of learning processes as they emerge in the context of conversations among two students in three successive tasks designed to foster conceptual change in proportional reasoning. The three tasks were set according to a pre-test treatment post-test paradigm. In the pre-test and the post-test tasks, the two students solved individually several items in the presence of an experimenter. In the treatment task, the two students worked as a dyad to solve similar items; they used a balance to check their conclusions and subsequently continued solving the items when the weighing did not match their expectations. We adopt a micro-genetic approach and develop new analytical tools to observe what happened in the conversation (both socially and cognitively). Throughout the three successive tasks, we observed the interplay between tools, peers, experimenter, and task demands and how they are managed through the rules of conversation. We identified four processes that involved the emergence of new high-order strategies from coordinated actions distributed among peers, the guidance of the experimenter in coordinating actions, and ways the participation in solving a previous task was actualized in a successive one.

Using a bridging representation and social interactions to foster conceptual change: Designing and evaluating an instructional sequence for Newton's third law

This paper offers an account of, and findings from, an approach to designing and evaluating an instructional sequence set in the context of Newton's third law. The design of the sequence draws upon conceptual change theory and the concept of the “bridging analog” is extended to introduce the notion of a “bridging representation” Attention is also given in the instructional design to the proposed social interactions between teacher and students as the teaching and learning activities are played out or “stage” in the classroom. A range of instruments is used to measure the extent of student learning, and evidence is presented to indicate that the designed sequence leads to enhanced learning gains when compared to those achieved with an equivalent group of students. Although set in the context of teaching and learning about mechanics a number of general points are made in relation to both instructional design and perspectives on conceptual change. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed, 89:175–195, 2005

Bayer gives up on Rhein Chemie sale, but progresses other divestments

We investigated whether problem-based learning (PBL) can foster conceptual change. Students were randomly assigned to a PBL, lecture-based, or self-study group, all receiving instruction about the topic of Newtonian laws. Conceptual change was measured from pre- to immediate post-test (directly after instruction) and from immediate post-test to delayed post-test after one week. Results showed that the PBL-group outperformed both the lecture and the self-study group on the immediate post-test. This result supported the hypothesis that PBL can increase the likelihood of conceptual change. The PBL group also outperformed both other groups at the delayed post-test after one week; the decline in conceptual change from immediate to delayed post-test was similar for all three groups. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive engagement.

Astronomical misconceptions and the effectiveness of science museums in promoting conceptual change

The present study identified misconceptions concerning the effect of gravity on planetary motion and attempted to foster conceptual change through the hands-on, informal environment of a science museum. Participants were given pre- and posttests to illuminate possible misconceptions and to assess the effectiveness of the informal curriculum. Results indicated that inaccurate conceptions concerning the relationship between mass, gravity, and planetary motion are plentiful. Although some misconceptions remained intact after instruction, most were replaced with more scientifically accurate notions. Mean test scores significantly increased after instruction (p<0.05), and a follow-up survey demonstrated that the conceptual change was stable

An Examination of How Science Teachers' Experiences in a Culture of Collaboration Inform Technology Implementation.

This paper presents a case study of Technology Enhanced Secondary Science Instruction (TESSI), a school-university collaboration designed to explore what can be accomplished when teachers and researchers work together to bring technology into the secondary science classroom. Features that contributed to a successful and powerful collaboration are explored. The paper illustrates how a “culture of collaboration” may contribute to significant technological reform, and foster conceptual change leading to distinctive pedagogy and praxis. The findings support Kimmel and Deek's contention that teachers should take a central role in reforms that direct the implementation of technologies within the classroom. The study highlights the value of drawing upon teacher experience, perspectives, and knowledge of classroom contexts, and illustrates how these may serve as a basis for designing successful technology implementation.

Task-dependent construction of mental models as a basis for conceptual change

Learning can be seen as a task-oriented process which often requires the reorganization of existing knowledge, usually referred to as conceptual change. This paper describes a theoretical framework for the analysis of conceptual change that considers conceptual knowledge as a generative cognitive tool for the creation of more specific mental representations — propositional symbolic structures and analog mental models. According to this view, conceptual change is based on a task-oriented interaction between these different kinds of mental representations. The assumption is made that it is possible to foster conceptual change by presenting to students well-defined tasks that stimulate the construction of elaborated mental models as well as an intensive interaction between these models and the corresponding propositional representations. In order to test this assumption an empirical study was conducted, in which subjects had to express their prior knowledge about a complex subject matter from the field of geography (time differences on the earth), which contained various conceptual deficits. The subjects were then randomly assigned to different groups who received the same learning material but had to solve different learning tasks requiring differently structured mental models. Afterwards, the subjects were asked to express their knowledge about the subject matter again and were tested for understanding with a comprehension test. The results support the view that a task-oriented interaction between propositional structures and mental models can help learners to evaluate the consistency of their conceptual knowledge. Accordingly, conceptual deficits result in the formation of mental models with an inadequate structure. Such deficits can be detected if the respective model is used in a sufficiently variable way, whereas they can remain unnoticed if it is used in a limited manner.

Dynamic Science Assessment: A New Approach for Investigating Conceptual Change

Starting from the premise that understanding conceptual change requires studying it while it occurs, this article describes a new research methodology in which students' knowledge is assessed in the context of mediated learning situations that attempt to foster conceptual change. The methodology builds on two ideas: that conceptual change in science is a matter of appropriation by individuals of culturally based knowledge (of the scientific community), and that understanding such change requires a mediated context in which the students' activity (actions and thinking) is shaped by a more experienced other who reflects the cultural norms or ideals of the scientific community that facilitate knowledge production. Specific assessments developed with these ideas in mind, which we call dynamic science assessments (DSAs), function to determine students' potential to change their understanding and as a result inform us about the process of conceptual change toward scientific knowledge. Results of a DSA about electricity that we conducted with upper elementary school children (n = 28) indicated that it was possible to foster conceptual change and to discriminate children with respect to their potential to develop scientifically accurate conceptions of current and resistance. These findings indicate the promise of using mediated learning situations, such as a DSA to study conceptual change in science, and we discuss the direction of future work given the conservative mediation in the assessments conducted in this particular instance.

The teacher as learner: interpretations from a case study of teacher change

This case study investigates questions of teacher learning related to change. The initial questions which guided the research were: (a) What counts as a knowledge source for the teacher as learner? (b) How do existing conceptualizations of teaching and learning influence a teacher's learning and construction of alternative images? (c) What kind of knowledge is valued as a basis for constructing new images and changing practices? Data collected through classroom observations and weekly informal discussion with the teacher were the basis of interpretations generated from the study. The interpretations are presented in a theoretical framework based on constructivism as a theory of how individuals learn. Specific long‐held meaning systems constructed by the teacher that constrained his construction of new knowledge and subsequent change are identified. Implications for creating learning environments which foster conceptual change among teachers are discussed.

How to use preconceptions? The contact strategy dismantled

The effects of the contact strategy (a computer-assisted instructional strategy aimed at conceptual change in text processing) were investigated by dismantling the strategy. An experiment with 86 Ss (5th/6th-graders) was conducted in which the number of instructional steps was cumulatively varied from 0 steps (no activation) over 1 step (search for old idea) and 3 steps (1. search for old idea; 2. compare and contrast with new information; 3. formulate new idea) to all 5 contact steps (1. search for old idea; 2. compare and contrast with new information; 3. formulate new idea; 4. apply new idea; 5. evaluate new idea). A design with 2 between-subjects factors (instructional strategy and students familiarity with the central concepts from the 7 instructional texts used) and 2 within-subjects factors (type of learning performance test item and time of testing) was used. Dependent variables concerned quality of final conceptions and learning performance. Results indicated that the complete contact strategy was the most effective variant. It seemed to be the case, however, that students mainly focused their attention on the central concepts from the texts. In our view, instructional strategies to foster conceptual change should both support knowledge restructuring processes and offer a solution for this problem of selective attention.